Saturday, August 20, 2011

Mediterranean Couscous Salad and New Mario Olives Pouches

I love Mediterranean food! Everything from tabbouleh salad to olives. I am picky about my olives, I like high quality kalamata and green olives, preferably from an olive bar at Whole Foods. I enjoy jarred green and kalamata olives in salads and as a snack, but I hate the canned black and green olives that have a rubbery texture and no taste. Few weeks ago I saw something interesting that really got me excited. Snack Pouch seasoned olives without the brine! After I read a few blog reviews I found out that they started selling these at Publix, my local grocery store. I scanned through the ingredients list and when I saw lactic acid on one of the pouches I contacted Mario Olives customer service to find out if the lactic acid was vegan. They responded very quickly that the lactic acid was derived from beets :-) So nothing was standing in my way to try this newest snack hit. As I mentioned before, I am picky about my olives. These olives rock! The taste reminds me the olives from the Whole Foods olive bar, full of flavor, great texture and nice juiciness. So far my favorite variety is the thyme seasoned kalamata. The thyme gives it just enough flavor without overpowering the taste of the kalamata olives. These pouches are very conveniently packaged snacks. There is no brine so there is no mess and I can just eat the olives straight out of the pouches. The pouches are fun and easy to take to work or the cat shelter where I can pour the olives into my mouth without touching the olives with my germy hands :-)

Mario Olives asked me what was my favorite way to use their olives and I told them that either as a snack or in my couscous salad. I have been making this couscous salad for years and wanted to share the recipe with you. It is very easy. I made this recipe with Mario Olives thyme seasoned kalamata olives but you can use any other kalamata olives that you have.

There are two easy ways to prepare couscous. You can either bring the water in a saucepan to a boil, remove from heat, add couscous and cover with a lid. Let stand for 5 minutes and fluff up with a fork. Or you can follow my favorite method. Place couscous in a large bowl. Boil the water in a water kettle, pour over the couscous and cover with a large plate. Let stand for 5 minutes and fluff up with a fork.

Place couscous into a large bowl if following the first method and keep the couscous in the original bowl if using the second method.

If you are using olive oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, chop them into small pieces and add them to the couscous. If you are using dry sun-dried tomatoes, you need to soften them in hot water for about 5 minutes before you can chop them. Pour hot water over the tomatoes (enough water to cover them completely) and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain them and add them to the couscous.

Chop the olives and dice the roasted red peppers, add to the couscous. If using fresh tomato and cucumber, add them now. Season with oregano, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and stir until well combined. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

About Me

I am a Czech Vegan living in America. I am working on my first vegan cookbook. On this blog I share my recipes, my thoughts on vegan living, vegan products reviews and other fun things. Two of my recipes were published in the Vegetarian Times magazine, as winning recipes in their recipe contests (November/December 2010 issue and September 2012 issue) and another recipe was published by Eating Well in the cookbook EatingWell Fast & Flavorful Meatless Meals: 150 Healthy Recipes Everyone Will Love (2011), and Eating Well magazine (August 2012 issue).
I love cooking and baking, running, and I enjoy veganizing Czech and American recipes. I am an animal rescuer, chocoholic and a tea lover.
I would like to mention that some of the products that I talk about on my blog were generously given to me with no obligation to write a positive review. If you make vegan products and want them to be featured and reviewed on my blog, let me know. You can email me at czechvegan (at) yahoo.com. My old email address czech.vegan (at) yahoo.com was compromised so I can no longer access it.